US Dockworkers Are Barely Making Progress In West Coast Port Talks

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The union for 20,000 dockworkers and a
group of their employers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports say they are
making slow but steady progress in months-long contract talks
seen by the shipping industry as a contributing factor in chronic
cargo backups.

However, neither side has ventured to say how much longer it
might take to reach a settlement, and both parties continued to
abide by a news blackout on the details of their talks and the
issues that divide them.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific
Maritime Association, representing terminal operators and
shipping lines at the ports, opened their talks in May and
mutually agreed to keep negotiating after their old contract
expired June 30.

The parties said in August they had reached a tentative deal on
healthcare benefits, "but apart from that everything else remains
on the table," association spokesman Steve Getzug said.

Since resuming talks after a hiatus in November, negotiators have
met on a fairly regular basis, they said.

"Both sides are working hard, and every day they get a little
more done, and every day they get closer to a settlement," union
spokesman Craig Merrilees said.

"Any time you're meeting and talking, that's progress," Getzug
said.

Ninety union delegates from all 29 ports were expected to review
the status of talks when they convened on Monday in San Francisco
for a caucus, Merrilees said, adding that the session may be
adjourned early to allow negotiations to resume.

DELAYS AND DIVERSIONS

Management sees an eventual settlement as key to easing severe
cargo delays that began in mid-October at several container ports
that account for nearly half of U.S. maritime trade and over 70
percent of imports from Asia.

The congestion has been most pronounced at Los Angeles and Long
Beach, the nation's two busiest shipping hubs, which together
handle 43 percent of all container cargo entering the United
States.

The number of freighters stuck waiting at anchor for berths to
open in Los Angeles and Long Beach has ranged from about a half
dozen to 18 on any given day since backups began. Seven ships
were waiting at anchor on Monday, down from 13 on Friday, port
officials said.

Management has accused the union of orchestrating some slowdowns
to bolster leverage at the bargaining table. Union officials deny
organizing delays but acknowledge some dockworkers may be acting
on their own out of frustration over the pace of contract talks.

They point to other factors that port officials cite as the main
causes of gridlock. Chief among them is a shortage of
tractor-trailer chassis used for hauling cargo from the ports to
warehouses, a situation created when shippers decided to sell off
their chassis to third-party equipment-leasing companies.

Union and port officials also point to record import levels, rail
service delays and the advent of super-sized container vessels
delivering greater cargo volumes all at once.

The port slowdowns, coming just after the peak holiday shipping
season, have nevertheless rippled through the commercial supply
chain, with prolonged days in the delivery of goods ranging from
apparel to apples and grain.

Cargo that normally takes two to three days to clear the ports
now faces lag times of up to two weeks, and shipments of some
goods, such as coffee, are being diverted from the West Coast to
other ports, like Houston.

Los Angeles port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said congestion was
starting to ease and that the backlog hopefully will be cleared
before the next heavy cargo season in February.

Insisting that labor tensions are distracting from efforts to
ease the cargo crunch and could lead to a worsening situation,
the National Retail Federation has urged the White House to
appoint a federal mediator to help settle the talks.

The union has opposed mediation, Merrilees said, because the two
sides are still making headway. Getzug said management was open
to the idea.